"Come, lay me down"
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
Allison's face is pale as she is the first of the three to open her eyes. Still in the steel bathtub, Allison awakens with a gasp as she leaps forward out of the water.
Scott and Stiles follow not too far behind, gripping onto the steel tub as they collectively gasp for air.
"I saw it. I know where it is." Scott exclaims as he quickly pushes himself out of the water.
"We passed it. There's-there's a stump. This huge tree- well, it's not huge anymore, it was cut down- but it's still big, though! Very big!" Stiles breathlessly explains.
"It was the night we were looking for the body-" Scott nods.
"Yeah, the same night you were bitten by Peter." Stiles interjects.
"I was there, too, in the car with my mother. We almost hit someone." Allison adds.
Scott turns to look at the brunette in shock. "It was me- you almost hit me." Scott and Allison share a stunned look, before he turns back to the four standing in front of them. "We can find it." He excitedly finishes.
Allison, Stiles and Scott watch the four in-front of them for a second waiting for a response. When they get nothing, they collective frown in confusion.
Lydia stands with her arm around Isabel as she tries to make her body as small as possible - legs tucked into her body as she holds them against her chest. She sits on top of the steel table, head down as she avoids eye contact.
Deaton stands next to the witch, giving an uneasy look before quickly covering it up.
"...What?" Allison finally asks.
Isaac looks over to Isabel for a moment, a glance that Stiles catches as it lingers for a moment too long. He turns his head back to the group, "You guys were out a long time..." He hesitantly explains.
"How long is a long time?" Stiles frowns, the three soaked teens sharing a look.
"...Sixteen hours." Deaton answers.
"We've been in the water for sixteen hours?!" Scott questions in disbelief.
Deaton nods, "And the full moon rises in less than four." He deadpans, causing the three teen's faces to fall.
Lydia gives a comforting rub on Isabel's back before she grabs some towels and hands them to the wet teens.
"We need to go back." Scott sighs to Isabel.
For the first time since they've awoken, Isabel looks up. She glances around at the shocked faces of the group before they land on Deaton. The group watch as the two share an unreadable look.
"No, dude- you guys are not going back with them." Stiles shakes his head as he looks between them.
"We made a deal with Deucalion-" Scott reminds them, turning to look at Isabel who now faces him. She gives a nod of agreement.
"Does anyone else think that sounds a lot like a deal with the devil?" Stiles asks in disbelief.
"Why does it matter, anyway?" Isaac questions, leaning forward from where he sat with Allison.
"Because I still don't think that we can beat Jennifer without their help." Scott sighs.
Allison looks over to Deaton in desperation. "They trust you more than anyone- tell them they're wrong."
"I'm not so sure they are..." Deaton shrugs, Allison's face falls at his response. "Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align with people you'd normally consider enemies." He explains.
"So, we're gonna trust him- the guy that calls himself "Death, Destroyer of Worlds"-we're gonna trust that guy?" Isaac huffs.
"I wouldn't trust him, no. But, you could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait." Deaton advises.
The group freeze as they hear the door to the front of the Animal Clinic open and shut, the sound of footsteps entering the Clinic start and then stop.
Deaton heads to the door connecting to the reception area, quickly followed by the rest of the group.
Isabel remains on the table and when Scott moves to go past her, he pauses. Sensing it was Ethan, he stops and looks over at the witch.
"I'm looking for Lydia."
"What do you want?"
"I need to tell you something." He quietly tells the witch. She frowns as she looks up at him, but motions for him to continue with a small nod. "It's about your mom."
Her frown drops at his words, carefully looking over his face. It held guilt. When she doesn't respond, he sighs softly - hating that he left it this long. He knew he couldn't keep it from her, not if they were going back to him.
"What you think happened-" He starts, lowering his voice so the others don't hear. "Morell confirmed it. It was Deucalion." He finishes.
Scott slowly looks over her face, watching and waiting for any sort of reaction. But, it remains blank. Her face doesn't seem to hold any emotion at all and for Scott, that was worse than her being angry.
"I'm so sorry, I should've told you sooner-"
"It's fine." She cuts him off.
He opens his mouth before shutting it, deciding not to say anything else. Isabel slides off of the cold steel table, just as Lydia approaches.
Lydia takes her in for a hug, explaining she was going with Ethan to help stop Aiden and Kali. Isabel nods, the two cousins sharing a 'be safe' before Lydia leaves in tow with Ethan.
Wordlessly, Isabel follows the group out of the clinic - Deaton holding his hand out and stopping her before she does. He watches to make sure the others are at a distance before looking down at her.
"Isabel-" He attempts but she shakes her head.
"I'm fine. I already told you nothing happened." Isabel sighs, not meeting Deaton's eyes.
"Okay then, but just remember what I said. I'm always here to help you, okay?" Deaton softly tells the young witch, pulling his hand away to let her go.
Isabel doesn't respond, simply walking out of the clinic.
And for a moment, Deaton swears he saw a smirk on her face as she left.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
"Just grab anything." Scott says into the phone as he exits the elevator behind Allison, Isaac and Isabel.
Scott sighs and shakes his head, "Stiles, I'm not smelling your dad's boxers."
The four stand outside the Argent apartment as Allison unlocks the door.
"Socks? Okay, I'll smell the socks." Scott reluctantly agrees before hanging up.
He turns his head to the side to look over at where Isabel stands, arms crossed and face still holding an unreadable expression.
"What about me?" Isaac asks Allison.
"See what you can find in my dad's closet. Anything with the strongest scent." Allison tells the Beta as she opens the door and makes her way in.
She heads straight for her dad's office, opening the door and freezing in the doorway as three men sit in the office - guns laid out across the desk.
"Quite the arsenal your father's got here, young lady..." Rafael McCall says, motioning to all the guns.
Allison stands frozen in the doorway, Scott coming around behind her as he recognises the voice.
"Scott." He greets, standing and placing his hands on his hips.
"What are you doing here?" Scott quietly asks, stunned.
"Following one of the only leads I have. Now, since I don't know where you've been, why don't you have a seat, and we can talk?" He pauses, raising a brow. "You, too, Isaac, Isabel."
Hidden behind the door, Isaac and Isabel slowly show themselves as they share a confused look.
"...How do you know our names?" Isaac asks, not bothering to hide his shock.
"Your names are one of the few things I know. To be honest, the rest of what's going on around here has me stumbling in the dark, even over the smallest clue." Rafael shrugs.
"If you're trying to tell me that you don't have a clue, I learned that a long time ago." Scott counters, moving forward into the room.
"I'm really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room. Really hoping." Rafael threatens, anger in his tone as he looks at his son.
Scott turns back to nod at the three teens. The group moves into the room, Allison and Scott taking a seat on the chairs while Isaac and Isabel sit on the table behind them.
"I'm not gonna lie, I'm more than a little disturbed- not only by the number of missing parents, but the fact that it's Stiles' father, your father, and your mother." Rafael starts, slowly pacing back and forth.
Isaac pulls out a sweet from a tub in his pocket, opening it and placing it in his mouth.
"Mine are both dead." Isaac deadpans.
"Mine too." Isabel shrugs.
Rafael gives the two an irritable look, "Save the cliched teenage apathy for your high school teachers."
Isaac and Isabel share a look.
"The four of you know more than you're saying, and I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to." Rafael continues, loosing his patience.
Allison sighs as she looks around the room, Scott's gaze falling on one of the flash bang bolts laying on the desk.
"You can't keep us here." Scott lowly tells his father.
"Not without some kind of warrant." Allison adds.
"I've got a desk full of probable cause." Rafael tells the girl.
Allison pauses for a second before getting up out of her chair. "My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer- that means he has to own a few weapons." She tells the agent.
She moves over to the desk, pointing to the different items. "Like this one-hundred-seventy-five-pound-draw tactical crossbow... Or this carbon-steel marine combat knife... Fifty A.E. Desert Eagle..."
Allison pauses for a second before picking up an item from the desk. "Hm... smoke grenade with pull-ring igniter..." Allison pulls the igniter, throwing the smoke grenade over at the three FBI agents. "GO!" Allison instructs as the smoke begins to fill the room.
The three agents start coughing as the smoke fills the room, blocking their view as the four teens run out of the apartment.
"Wait! Scott, wait!" Rafael shouts, but it's no use.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
Allison pulls up at the Beacon Hills Preserve with Isabel and Isaac in the car with her. Behind, Scott follows on his bike. She stops at the gate, Scott stopping beside them and pulling off his helmet. The three get out of the car, joining Scott.
"Are you okay?" Allison asks Scott.
"I didn't know what to say to him... I couldn't come up with anything. But what you did? That was awesome!" Scott laughs.
"I still haven't gotten anything from Stiles. You?" Isabel questions, holding her neck as she feels an ache.
"I don't get it." Scott frowns, confused as why Stiles hadn't text.
"All right. Well, we can't wait for him. Come on." Isaac says, directing the three off to where Scott and Isabel were meeting Deucalion.
"Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott? Isabel?" Deucalion asks, approaching from behind. Isabel doesn't dare look over at the man.
"We got a little delayed. Where are the others?" Scott questions.
"Occupying themselves with other pursuits..." Deucalion explains.
"So, it's just you, me and Isabel against her?" Scott sighs.
"I think you'll be surprised what a good team we make." Deucalion comments.
"Okay... Get Stiles, and get to the root cellar, okay?" Isabel tells Isaac and Allison, trying to shake off the feeling that something was wrong with Stiles.
"We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there." Scott adds.
"How are you gonna do that?" Isaac frowns, looking between the two worriedly.
"I have a plan." Scott tells the other wolf.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
Scott leads Isabel and Deucalion to the distillery, the harsh winds making it hard for them to move.
"You said you had a plan..." Deucalion says as the three come to a stop.
"On the first day of class, Jennifer sent us all a message. It was the last line from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I've got a message of my own to send her." Scott explains.
Scott takes out his phone, and begins to record a video message to send Jennifer. "You see this symbol? It's a symbol of revenge. You talk about balance, about saving people... We know what you really want. And now, you know where to find us."
He sends the video and now all was left was to wait.